Sunday, June 29, 2008

Like the title of my post?? LOL I really have no idea what I will talk about today--I'm just gonna fly around here by the seat of my pants--wherever the wind may blow! :oD

It's been busier than usual around here and I have hardly crafted at all--and that makes me stressy! Are you like that? Creating things takes me to my happy place and it invigorates me and relaxes me at the same time. I am feeling a need to get back to it!

It should be a little easier now that Joe just finished up his driver's ed classroom work---his classes were about a half hour drive from here and so dropping off and picking up was taking up 2 hours of my morning (prime creating time! I am definitely a morning person)--and I am still determined to walk every day--so that is taking up another hour each morning.....see! Now we are going to go take his permit test on Monday--and then I suppose it's gonna be "Mom, will you take me driving....." right?? !We had a fun birthday--my little goddaughter, Meggie, just turned 6!! She is such a darling and is now starting to lose her teeth ( I just love that!! cute, cute, cute!) She enjoyed her party and we had a beautiful day so the party could be outside.

Here's a pic of Meggie's nephew!! (yup!) Swinging with Daddy.Some new tags that I've added to my shop. (sadly, that is about all I've been able to craft lately!) But that's OK--cuz' I love making them and finding new paper combinations to make them with. Oh, and poor Linds sprained her toe during dance last week. So she is hobbling around a bit and is mostly bummed because she can't wear her flip flops! lol

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Just a fair warning here--there may be a little whining to follow, just the teensiest, tiniest little bit.......

WAAHHHHH! *sobs* I always feel a little better after I complain a bit. :o)

I have had such a dang sinus infection this week, my whole head hurts--even my teeth! It sucks. I haven't felt up to doing any crafting and it hurts worse when I lay down so I can't even lay on the couch and feel sorry for myself. AND, my eyes hurt and my head is pounding and I can't stand to be on the computer. AND, as if that wasn't enough--it's HOT. I hate hot. Anything over 75 or 80 tops. It's been like 90 for two days now. Ewww.

OK, I'm almost done now, LOL!! The one thing that really bummed me out is that I missed the promo in the new street team I'm in on Etsy---OFG (Old Farmhouse Gathering). They do mostly prim and handstitching and painting--and they ran a promotion today :red, white, & blue "SUMMER CHALLENGE". I didn't finish my project in time. *pouts* I did manage to finish it during the day today, but was too late to get in on the promo part of it. Sigh. I did make a pretty cute little item too....wanna see??

I hadn't done a bagkeeper for a while, so I did! I love these old patterns, they are such a joy to embroider. You can find it in my shop.

Anywhooo---go to Etsy and search OFG and check out all the great stuff. It's a really talented bunch. Here, I'll make it easy for you CLICK ME!

Speaking of OFG--one of the members, pocomedio of Gravel Alley Primitives makes the cutest little dolls. You have to see THIS ONE , seriously, you just can't go wrong with a polka dot cat with attitude!

Thanks for letting me whine, I do feel a little better now. :o) Oh, there' s Linds, maybe she will pamper me for a minute, I could go for some hot sleepytime tea.......

Sunday, June 22, 2008

AND guess who is on page 78?? !! The book turned out so cute, and I am thrilled to be among all the talent in these pages. There are a lot of familiar names in here! The book is published by Lark Books and I'm not sure where ALL they sell them, but it is available at Barnes & Noble. and Amazon. Great projects!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Hello!! How do you like my new purse?? Isn't it a sweety? Guess what---it was a prize I won from the Vintage Indie Swanky Swag giveaway!! Yup! Seriously, Gabreial has such a wonderful blog "Vintage Indie" --full of really great stuff & interviews with fantastic indie artists. To top it all off, she does these fantastic giveaways too. You HAVE to check it out! I was lucky enough to win the Spring into Summer giveaway--check out my winnings! The purse you see above was made by the talented BACK HOME AGAIN , it's just my style (vintage tablecloth, yum!) and so well made. She also included that cute little, wonderfully scented lavender sachet to match. Thanks so much BackHomeAgain--I just love it! I can't wait to take my new purse to church!

Then there is this beautiful bit of wall art---a beautiful portion from a vintage appliqued quilt skillfully mounted on a lightweight base, and finished so nicely on the back (I've attempted to mount fabric items and know it's not as easy as it looks to get a nice finish!) This was donated by the talented HighDesertDiva . Thank you so much for such a lovely bit of the past!! This is going in my studio!Then, there is this darling tea cozy! It is really so cute, and you can't tell by the pic, but it is beautifully beaded and had the cutest little buttons and charms attached here and there! Love it! And check out the lovely crocheted pull at the top--charming! This was donated by a lovely Mother/Daughter team-- Brissonte . It's so lovely--thank you!Last, but not least!! is this pretty little locket from CharmingSam --it is just so old fashioned and sweet--I love it!! Thank you Charming Sam--I will enjoy wearing this very much!Here are a few of my new cuties to finish off the post! Swing by my shop if you need a cute little pin to dress up your purse or jacket!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Yup---17 years ago today my sweetheart and I tied the knot! I feel very blessed to have such a friend and companion to share my life with all these years.

Now, Diana of A Muted Palette tagged me with a meme a while back, which I haven't gotten around to doing (sorry!--I am such a blabber on here that I think you all already know all the weird things about me that you could ever care to know! lol). How about if I do one about 7 things about my hubby and I?? 1...We were set up by a mutual friend. A friend that I worked with at the nursing home kept on bugging me to call this "guy who is PERFECT for you!" I never was the kind of gal who called guys in the first place so it took a long time (around 6 months!) for me to finally tell her that I would call him if she would just shut up!

2...I had never dated much---I married my high school sweetheart the first time around and had only been divorced for about a year when all this started. I really didn't even care to have a relationship with anyone. I was enjoying going out on occasional dates and having time to myself! Mark was a bachelor and hadn't been married before. 3...The guy my friend wanted me to call was named Mark---and there were 2 other men who I was dating occasionally, at the time...both named Mark. LOL At least I didn't have to worry about calling them the wrong names!

4...I totally missed our first date!! LOL As I was getting ready to leave, some people I knew came knocking on my door. By the time I got them to leave and got to the place we were supposed to meet, Mark was walking out the back door as I was walking in the front one! 5...I went to a local bar one night, to meet up with some friends, and ended up meeting this handsome and sweet guy--we really hit it off right away! We spent most of the evening talking and shooting pool and dancing to the great blues band that was there (both die hard blues fans!). Come to find out....guess who it was?? Yup! LOL Want to know how I found out it was him?? When we had arranged our first date (the one I missed), he had told me to look for his bright green coat (the one that I had seen going out the back door !!) Soooo.....at one point in the evening he went to grab a pack of smokes out of his coat that was hanging on a chair over in the corner....tah dah! Yup...that crazy bright green coat!! I just couldn't believe it! 6...We seem to have a weird physic connection--even from the beginning! Seriously, the first night I met him, we were talking about families (Mark comes from a large family) and I asked him to guess how many kids my Grandparent had had....(my Dad comes from a LARGE family!) and Mark looked at me for a minute and then said "17". Just out of the blue!! He was exactly right! LOL AND Now...after all these years of marriage, we totally are in each other's head! It's a little weird really.

7....I was actually a little bummed out that I met Mark. I really had no intention of getting married again, at least so soon. I was enjoying being single for really the first time in my life, had a nice adorable little apartment all to myself, a good job. AND I knew, as soon as we met, that all that was over! LOL Oooh, the Lord works in mysterious ways!8...When we knew that things were getting serious between us, I had to tell him my sad news. I was unable to get pregnant. I had met his family and saw how he loved them all and was so good with all his nieces and nephews....and I had to tell him that he might want to break it off with me and find some nice girl to marry and have babies with. I thought for sure that would be the deal breaker! lol Nope, silly man....he wanted me anyways. :o) Turns out---I was only unable to get pregnant with my FIRST hubby! LOL ( Guess who ended up preggy right away? huh?) 9...Mark proposed to me and gave me a ring...and I turned him down. I loved him but I really didn't want to get married again. He told me to keep the ring, and I put it in my underwear drawer and kept it there for a long time. He finally convinced me that we were going to be together forever and I might just as well get used to the idea...and he was going to be my husband and that was that. Period. He was so right. We got married at the courthouse. 10...Last summer we finally had our church wedding. So we are looking forward to our first anniversary at the end of this month... but first we have to celebrate our 17th!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

I was going through a bag of old hankies at my fav second hand shop and *gasped* when I spotted this tattered beauty! Her loveliness shone through her stains and tattered edges and I just had to bring her home and try and revive her to her former beauty. I was able to remove or fade out her stains and carefully trimmed the tattered edges and added some interfacing to strengthen her frail fabric---and turned her into a lovely and usable bag. New life. I think she is pleased. Available HERE.

Well, yesterday I made the 700+ sale in my Etsy shop and, as promised, I did a drawing from the last 25 sales made. Sooo, I called upon my faithful helper, Miss Rosie, and we drew the name of ......(drumroll please!) CATNIPSTUDIO!!! Congratulation Catnip!!! Thank you so much for being such a wonderful customer--I appreciate your support!! (as you can see from the list above, she is a very loyal customer!!)

AND, just so you don't think that Miss Rosie just chose CatnipStudio because, well....it' CATNIP! Here is a really strange looking picture of Mr. Kwitty to show you that there was actually a human behind the cat paw!! lol

My thanks to all of my other customers too, I appreciate each and every one of you very much. Have a great day!!

Friday, June 06, 2008

Hi friends! I just have to tell you about the wonderful time I had on Wednesday--my pinky finger still keeps popping up in the air!!

I'm sure you remember me talking about my favorite little antique shop...well, the lady who owns the shop invited me and 4 other of her "favorite" customers to have lunch at her home. What a nice surprise!! All 5 of us are people "who make things" and she thought it would be fun to get us all together. I was very excited for 2 reasons... one being that I've always wanted to see the home of someone who deals antiques (yeah!) and the other one being that I love to meet new people, especially ones who "make things" AND are into antiques! I decided to make her a corsage pin for a hostess gift:

Let's just say I wasn't disappointed with either of them!! We had such a lovely time, her home was fabulous. She collects art deco, beautiful silhouette work, cobalt glass, and vintage linens that were tastefully displayed in little surprise areas around her home. It was just gorgeous, not overdone at all...Lovely. I also brought cupcakes (sorry for the bad photo-- I forgot to photograph without the plastic)--but they were cute...chocolate with heart sprinkles and I made little pinwheels (with magnets on the back) to decorate them--for the guests to bring home and put on their fridge.

She also gave us a tour of her beautiful gardens. The surprising thing was that she takes vintage plates and other cool things that are broken and uses them in her gardens...so as you are looking you spot a beautiful plate here, a delicate teacup there, a salt cellar over yonder.......it's just darling! She originally had planned on an outdoor lunch but, as it so often happens here in Minnesota, the weather didn't cooperate . It's alright! haha We dined inside on a beautifully set table--pink depression glass plates, antique stemware, and delicate bone china teacups all atop a lovely pink roses vintage linen tablecloth. Great food and lively conversation--a wonderful lunch!!

Well, yesterday was the last day of school for the kids---let's just say they were happy about it.

I haven't had a whole lot of time for crafting lately--and I hate that! lol I did manage to make a new little tissue keeper from a hanky, which turned out pretty cute! It's in my shop HERE.

I also tried my hand at doing something new with my little bird art--A brooch! I created a little bird, who has a song stuck in his head, atop of a wooden disc--and then added a thick glaze over the top. What do you think? Available HERE.

Well, I have to go and start the CSSTeam daily promo thread ( it's in the Etsy forums and can be found by searching CSSTeam in the forums titles--feel free to pop by to say HI and see all the beautiful cottage and shabby chic that our lovely group offers, and even show off some of your own!) It's my job to start it on Friday mornings. Here's today's thread--sure to be full of lovely links!

After that---I'm headed to one of my favorite little quilt shops--she's having a fat quarter sale today!! (hey, 25 fat quarters for $25!! yeah!) AND my Sweety takes me out for breakfast on Friday mornings---so I have a pretty good morning planned!! yeah

Monday, June 02, 2008

Well....sadly, it's finally happened. Mrs. Kwitty has gone from plump to fat. Yup (we will pause here for a minute while I weep). I have some health problems that make it difficult and painful for me to exercise, and I've gotten lazy and don't do it as much as I should....and with doing crafts and working on the computer for my business--well that is all pretty dang sedentary work! (a moment of silence for my lost waistline and thigh definition).

Sooo, I have finally gotten off of my lazy bunns and started walking --every day. Well.....just about every day. Ok.......5 days a week!!! lol It really depends on the weather (and not what you think, I don't mind walking in the rain....but changes COMING in the weather make my legs and feet hurt too much to do it) Yes, I AM a human barometer. LOL It's coming along pretty good so far. I got an MP3 player for Mother's day so I have some good tunes to listen to while I walk, which really helps. So far I've lost about 5 pounds and my legs feel stronger, yeah, so I'm happy!

My blog is suffering because of it though. I usually do my blogging in the early morning, that is my time of day. The brain is fresh and lively! lol Later in the day I just have a hard time thinking of things to write about and seem to get a sort of paranoia about the whole thing...weird huh? I'm going to try to do better and keep up with my blog AND get the walking in....bear with me!Look at this little beauty I got in the mail this week!! Remember the lovely art I won in Sweet Repeats drawing a while back?? Well, I love it! And decided I needed this pretty piece to go with it! Thanks hun, it's gorgeous! Be sure to check out her Etsy shop LucySweetLucyand get something sweet for yourself!!

I also got these darling monkey love tags in the mail this weekend--aren't they cute?!! I won them in a drawing from CutesyGlamDesign --I really love them...and I need to keep an eye on Linds, cuz' I think she has got her eye on them too!! Thank you Ken--they are adorable!

Here are my newest tags---I did these up in this pretty coraly pink and brown

AND in blue and black!! They make me smile! (just click the pics and it will bring you to the item listing in my Etsy shop!! )

IndiePublic

Etsy Blog Ring

Fun Indie Artists to CheckOut!

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About Me

Hi! My name is Karen, I'm in my 40's, been married 17 years, and am a SAHM to my 2 kids who are now both in their teens. I am a creative soul--been that way from birth! I love cottagey handmade things from old to new. I have opened an Etsy shop-- Misseskwittys.etsy.com-- where I am attempting to share my goodies with the world.